GRID Traveler Trilogy: Lines Crossed

Long ago we were visited by aliens. They shared knowledge and told us stories of life. They showed us magick and made us believe. Then one day they left. We wondered what happened to to them. We searched the skies.

Through the years we performed “magick” hoping they would return. Epochs passed and we went searching for them to discover proof the Elders and Ancient Ones existed.

Toward the end of the last war a hero fell from grace. Our journey begins here . . .

Sean Blakemore, Commander of the GRID Battlecruiser Reginald L Johnson, wallowed in self-loathing. He drank too much, suffered from depression, and swam in self-pity. He figured life could not suck any worse when he received new orders. He had to hand the Johnson over to another commanding officer. God hated him he thought.

Then . . . Dr. Loggar, head scientist in charge of this new mission, drew him into the semi-secret world of The Most High Goddess. She gave him hope.

GRID Traveler Trilogy is a story of Sean’s redemption, from rock bottom to discovering Humankind’s true origins and possibly its inevitable future.

Sean walked to the podium, “As you were, people.” He toggled on Ship wide intercom. The orientation would be heard throughout the Johnson.

Everyone in the auditorium sat.

Sean cleared his throat. “I don’t normally do orientation but since we are no longer at war or rushing off to right some wrong I have some me time.”

The entire room erupted into laughter.

“I’d like to personally welcome everyone here. Some of you have taken a long journey to reach this destination. Some of you had doors opened for you. And yet, still others, probably just rolled out of bed this morning and decided to find the lunch line. And here you are.”

More laughter.

“What I’d like to stress is that The Reginald L. Johnson is not just any ship of the line. The Johnson is of the old guard. A semi-aware vessel that had the misfortune of being a semi-aware vessel. During the SI war many Johnson class ships, yes – The Johnson was the first, were compromised. That’s why all vessels built afterward are dumbed down. Most of you, if not all, already know this. As a result of the compromise all Johnson class ships have to toggle the semi-aware off during normal runs and toggle semi-aware back on during extreme long and war jumps. Fortunately for you the Johnson has been upgraded to the newer class of engines not requiring Tranking. Unfortunately for the Johnson, and all that have served aboard for so long, will not be needed as often. Probably not ever. That is as long as the SI are still out there. I say this to you so that when you walk the halls of the Johnson, when you travel the lifts or enter into a room, to remember that the Johnson is a good ship. It has served us very well as we will return the favor. We have too. It’s important.”

Sean stepped away from the podium and started walking down the aisles. He felt relaxed and alive. Today he would announce their new mission. “Today marks another important event. The Johnson has been reclassified as an Explorer Cruiser, hence our mission is no longer to seek and destroy or seek and protect. It’s seek and find. It’s seek and gain. It’s seek and discover. In the past half year things have occurred that has told us Humans are not alone in the galaxy. We really are part of a greater picture and as such we are now going to contact others into the far unknown and beyond. We are going to do extremely long jumps going forward, but with the new upgrades we’ll remain sane. I have no idea what new things we’ll find or discover, but as some of you have heard through scuttlebutt it is amazing and absolutely true the things we have found or discovered so far. A lot of it will remain classified for security reasons, but some things just can’t be kept secret.” Sean paused, now he had their attention.